Prophetic Purposes and the Zeal of the Lord: When Sovereignity and Free Will Meet

By Kenneth L. Birks

The essence of this book considers that God has sovereign purposes that are yet to be fulfilled through His sovereignty. In performing them, He uses imperfect vessels to do so. How does our fee will work together with God's sovereignty to bring forth His purposes to fulfill them from one generation to another? This book explores this question and much more. We discover that one of the Father's most significant traits--His patience combined with our obedience allows us to be involved with Him. The book is divided into three parts. The first part explains how God used the Patriarchs, Prophets, Kings, Judges and the apostles to be integral parts of His sovereign purposes. The second part describes major prophetic or predestinated purposes that must be fulfilled before Jesus returns. The third part describes how we must prepare ourselves to be useful vessels unto honor to be a part of all that God is going to do before the Second Coming of Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth L. Birks
• Release date: Nov 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463593387

Kenneth L. Birks

Ken Birks is an ordained Pastor/Teacher in the Body of Christ and has been a pastor and elder at The Rock of Roseville in Roseville, California where he also functioned as teacher. Ken has been a part of The Rock since its inception in 1997. Prior to coming to The Rock, Ken was the Senior Pastor of Golden Valley Christian Center, a non-denominational, Spirit-filled church, for twelve years.Ken’s primary gift is in the area of teaching. He teaches the word of God with passion and balance with a prophetic slant. He has an intense desire to impart a genuine love and appreciation for God’s Word.Ken is now semi-retired and does wedding officiating on the side; and has a writing ministry. The "Adventures of Space and Hobo" was first book. This book tells the story of Ken’s vagabond life after Vietnam while exploring the on-the-ground confusion and chaos of the Vietnam War and its effects on a generation, and those who served.Ken has since written three other books, “The Journey - Discovering the Invisible Path”, “Prophetic Purposes and the Zeal of the Lord - when Free will and Sovereignty Meet,” and Treasures From Above - A 50 Day Devotionals.”Ken also has an internet ministry of “Sowing Seeds of Faith” located at kenbirks.com. His website reaches over 2000 unique visitors a day with Bible studies, sermon outlines, audio sermons and podcasts that is a resource to pastors which also helps to equip saints for the work of the ministry.Ken has been married to his wife, Lydia for 42 plus years and have two adult children, and three grandchildren, and consider them their highest calling, along with the many teens and children whom they have been foster or surrogate parents to over the past 25 years.

Book preview

With major upheaval happening all around us at an alarming rate, it’s vitally important for followers of Jesus to know how we should be responding to our present season. The values of the world are being turned upside down. Good is now referred to as evil, while evil is referred to as good. We’re in a time warp that is turning our world into a place of spiritual darkness. With extreme spiritual warfare taking place in the heavenlies and here on earth, God is calling us to be wise and understanding in all that we do and say. If we fail to hear and respond to His trumpeting voice as it sounds the alarm, we will find ourselves falling into the traps and snares that are skillfully laid by our enemy, Satan. As spoken by the prophet, Hosea, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.¹

Satan is on the rampage with the antichrist spirit, gaining momentum in every stratum of our societies. He knows his time is short and desires to wreak as much havoc as he can while preying on the weak and uninformed. In this strategic hour, the Church needs to be fully equipped and aware of the prophetic season that is upon us. We must put on the armor of light as we prepare ourselves for all that God desires to do in and through us during this critical season. We must know how to respond to our present seasons.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanders, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

God’s Holy Word is full of many prophetic promises He’s given for His purposes on earth. They’re to be an encouragement to understand His will and purpose for all generations from Adam to the Second Coming of Christ.

By His divine power, God has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these we may be partakers of His divine nature.² With the Father’s divine ability working in us, He’s called us to be like the sons of Issachar who had an understanding of their times and knew how Israel was to respond.³ We’re encouraged to do the same as Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus.

Ephesians 5:15-17 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is.

The promise of the coming of the Messiah was the greatest of all the prophetic purposes God has promised throughout the ages. It is in this promise that we uncover the keys as to how God brings His prophetic purposes to pass. We discover it was the zeal of the Lord that made this happen. Through the study of His Word, we also find that in His zeal, He continually transforms His ministers into flames of fire to fulfill all that has been prophesied by His Holy prophets.

Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born. Unto us, a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of a David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.

This passage speaks of how it was the zeal of the Lord that brought forth the Messiah, who was to bear the names of God, expressing the fullness of the Godhead bodily. It also speaks of how in His zeal will He bring forth every prophetic purpose throughout the ages that ushers in the continual increase of His kingdom.

As you open your spirit to the chapters of this book, you will see that it’s in His zeal that God has chosen to make those whose hearts are consecrated to His purposes, flames of fire who go forth fulfilling His word.

Psalm 104:3-4 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who walks on the wings of the wind, who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.

You might ask, What does it mean when it says, ‘He makes His ministers flames of fire?’ I believe it has to do with the zeal of the Lord working in us when He stirs up our passion, fervency, and destiny to do His will. Paul says it best in his epistle to the Colossians where he said, To this end, I also labor, striving according to His working in me mightily.⁴ We find that it’s the violent or the energetic ones, filled with His Spirit who will take the kingdom by force.⁵

When baptized in the Holy Spirit, we are also baptized into His fire and zeal. When John the Baptist spoke of Jesus, who would come after him, he said, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.⁶ The prophet, Jeremiah, spoke of how God’s word was in his heart like a burning fire, shut up in his bones, causing him to be wary of holding it back.⁷ The two disciples who encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus said to one another, Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?⁸

In every generation, God has prophetic purposes to be revealed. The book of Acts records how David served the purposes of God for his generation.⁹ A quick look through biblical history shows how many patriarchs, judges, kings, prophets, and apostles served the prophetic purposes for their generations as well. These were people who God chose in His Sovereignty to call forth as His chosen vessels.

The essence of this book considers that God has sovereign purposes in the earth that He must yet fulfill through His sovereignty. Amid performing them, He uses imperfect vessels like you and me to do so. How does our free will work together with God’s sovereignty to bring forth His purposes as He fulfills them from one generation to another? This book explores these questions and much more. We discover that one of the Father’s most significant traits—His zeal and patience combined with our obedience—allows us to be involved with Him.

Just as it was the zeal of the Lord that brought forth the most significant prophetic event of the ages, it will be the Lord in His zeal that executes His plans and purposes that bring an end to this age with the return of Jesus to set up His eternal kingdom. As we enter into the culmination of all that God’s Holy prophets have prophesied throughout the ages, there are still many prophetic promises or predestinated events that the Father must fulfill before the return of Jesus Christ as seen in the passage below.

Acts 3:18-21 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ¹⁹  Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰  and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, ²¹  whom heaven must receive (retain) until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

The passage from the book of Acts makes it clear that Jesus will be retained in heaven until all that was spoken by His Holy prophets comes to pass. Just as God in His zeal fulfilled His prophetic purposes concerning the coming of the Messiah through the birth of Christ, He will accomplish all that the prophets foretold concerning the end of the age and the second coming of Christ.

This book has three sections. The first section sets the stage by showing how God has already brought His prophetic purposes into play throughout the history of the Bible. The second section outlines His prophetic objectives for the Church that the Father must fulfill before the second coming of Christ. The third section discusses what we must do to prepare ourselves to be useful vessels unto honor as we partner with Him in fulfilling all that was foretold by His prophets.

I do realize some of the thoughts and concepts I am presenting may be different than what some schools of thought would have you to believe. I encourage you to weigh them out carefully, with an open heart and mind, as you allow the Scriptures to interpret themselves. Our loyalty should be to God’s word, not schools of thought. Holding on to personal biases will always distort the result of our thinking. With an understanding that I’m just as imperfect as others who’ve offered their thoughts throughout the centuries, I submit to you, to the best of my abilities, my thoughts, opinions, and conclusions I’ve based on Paul’s second letter to Timothy where he said the following:

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

As we are faithful to divide the word of truth rightly,¹⁰ we must, first, believe God inspired all Scripture, which is the bottom line of how we interpret God’s word. Secondly, if we believe God inspired all Scripture, then we must assume that He has spoken with divine harmony and continuity throughout the Scriptures. If this is so, we must understand that Scripture will interpret Scriptures, making them profitable for doctrine.

All doctrines must be in divine harmony with one another. God is not the author of confusion, but instead, all His words are pure, like silver, tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times, which speaks of the perfection of His word. Therefore, we are to trust in His word, which acts as a shield to those who are trained by it.¹¹

We must also understand that God hides some things, which we can only discover with the aid of the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit who searches the heart of the Father for the answers as seen in the following passages of Scripture.

Proverbs 25:2-3 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. ³As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.

1 Corinthians 2:10-11,16 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹⁶ For who has known the mind of the Lord that He may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

We also have an enemy who will use our weaknesses and personal biases to twist the Scriptures.¹²

The principles I have just mentioned are the principles that guide me as I seek to be a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. I offer for your consideration the conclusions that I have presented in his book.

It’s time for the Church to become the pillar and the ground of all truth. It can only happen as we remain loyal to God’s word that came by His inspiration. We must maintain absolute integrity to the inspiration of Scripture; otherwise, what we teach will be in error.

As you read this book, I would encourage you to have your Bible nearby and open so that you can refer to the many endnotes that are at the end of the book. My desire, as you read and study this book, is that your hearts will burn as the Scriptures are opened to you in the same manner as it was for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. As you allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you, He will open the Scriptures so that your hearts burn with newfound passion and fervency. He will set your hearts on fire, filled with zeal and fervency as you go forth as His ministers.

Daniel 11:32b-33a The people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits. ³³ And those of the people who understand shall instruct many;

Most of the chapters in this book conclude with a Biblical enriched poem that either describes or summarizes the chapter. I wrote all the poems.

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Prophetic Purposes

and the Zeal of the Lord

Setting the Stage

Part 1

He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who walks on the wings of the wind, who makes his angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.

Psalm 104:3-4

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Chapter One

Prophetic Purposes

Patriarchs, Prophets, Judges

and Kings

Throughout biblical history, we see that God has specific plans and purposes for the ages, including our present age. It’s God who has defined His prophetic objectives for the nation of Israel, the Church, and humanity throughout the ages. When we accept and commit our lives to Jesus Christ, we enter the predestinated purposes of our Lord that are in alignment with His overall intentions and will. We’ve been saved according to His purposes so that we can be His instruments of righteousness in all that He has foretold and purposed.¹³

Of all that the prophets foretold and came to pass throughout the ages, we see that God has chosen to use human instruments as His means of bringing to pass His prophetic purposes. The Scripture reference below confirms this.

Ephesians 1:11-12 (NIV) In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

Even though the Father uses us as His instruments of righteousness, it’s in His sovereignty and zeal that He performs on our behalf as ministers of flaming fire.

The prophet, Isaiah, speaks of how the zeal of the LORD of hosts performs His prophetic purposes. It was the zeal of the LORD that brought forth the Messiah, whose name was to be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace!

It’s interesting that Jesus, to whom the fullness of the Godhead bodily rests upon, takes on all the names that represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; thus, His name: the Lord Jesus Christ.¹⁴

Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever the zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The above prophetic passage speaks of the purposes of God from the date of the Messiah coming forth, to the end of this age, and throughout all eternity – a time in which the kingdom of God will continue to expand and grow. The zeal of the LORD will continue to bring it forth through His chosen instruments of grace until the end of this present age. He will perform on their behalf just as He has done since the beginning of time, transforming His ministers into flames of fire as seen in the following passage.

Psalm 104:3-4. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, ⁴ who walks on the wings of the wind, who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.

This chapter reveals how God, the Father, was intimately acquainted and involved with all the ways of the Patriarchs, Judges, Prophets, and Kings mentioned throughout the Bible.¹⁵ We see how God’s sovereignty works hand in hand with each one of them as they give themselves to the Lord and His purposes. David saw himself as being fearfully and wonderfully made. He saw his days being formed for him before he was in his mother’s womb. We will see how this is true for all of those mentioned in this chapter.¹⁶

Even though God did shape the lives of the patriarchs, prophets, kings, and others with His prophetic purposes, they had to submit to Him before He could use them as willing vessels. In His foreknowledge, God, the Father, knew He could trust them to make the right decisions. Therefore, they were His elected, chosen vessels according to His foreknowledge as Peter wrote in his first epistle concerning all of us who have decided to follow the Lord.

1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus.

Patriarchs from the Old Testament

A quick look through the Old Testament reveals to us how God has always used His chosen vessels to bring forth His prophetic purposes.

Abraham, the Father of our Faith

Abraham was sought out by God for His purposes.¹⁷ It was God who chose and called him. As we will see over and over, it’s always God who does the seeking and takes the initiative in calling us forth for the intended purposes He has in mind.

In Genesis, God established His covenant with Abraham through a vision, revealing the extent of land that He was giving to him and his descendants. Abraham was told to prepare a sacrifice as his part of the covenant. After the sun went down, and a deep sleep fell upon him, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between the pieces of the sacrifice Abraham had been told to prepare.¹⁸ The burning torch signifies Abraham’s transformation into one of God’s ministers, going forth as a minister of flaming fire to execute the Father’s will and purpose in the earth.

Even though Abraham was not perfect, God’s hand was on Him in a mighty way. On a couple of occasions, he lied concerning Sarah, his wife. Nevertheless, it was because of his obedience to God’s plans and purposes that he would become the father of many nations. It was his obedience that enabled God to trust him with His sovereignty. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, when he knew it was through Isaac that God would fulfill His promises. It was his willingness that caused God the Father to place complete trust in him.¹⁹

Isaac, the Son of Abraham

Isaac was the chosen child of Abraham to inherit the promises. God had told Abraham, My covenant I will establish with Isaac.²⁰

Even though Isaac was the chosen one for God’s covenant with Abraham to be established through him, he, too, had his faults. He favored his son Esau because he was a skillful hunter who would bring him savory game to eat.²¹ Even though God had made it clear to Rebekah and Isaac that Jacob was to be the one who would inherit Abraham’s blessing, Isaac wanted to give it to Esau.²² God had said the older brother Esau would serve his younger brother. Isaac’s failure to honor God’s intended purposes forced Jacob and Rebekah to revert to deception so that Jacob would inherit the blessing of Abraham.²³

Isaac also tried to pass his wife off as his sister in the same manner that his father Abraham had done, only to have his folly discovered. God had spoken very clearly to Isaac that He would be with him to perform the oath which He had sworn to Abraham. He did this when He reaffirmed His promise to Isaac saying, I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands, and in your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. In spite of this promise, Isaac’s heart was filled with fear, when he went to dwell with the Philistines in Gear because of a famine. When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, She is my sister. He was afraid the men would kill him because she was beautiful to behold.²⁴

It was because of God’s grace and mercy that He kept His covenant with Isaac. God, the Father, was able to look beyond Isaac’s faults and see the God-fearing man he was in spite of his flaws. As a result, God’s sovereignty continued to rule through his life.

Jacob, (Israel) the Son of Isaac

Jacob was the child of Isaac, who God chose to give birth to the twelve tribes of Israel. As with Abraham and Isaac, God was also the initiator of His plans for Jacob. He was to be a crucial figure in the Father’s chosen instruments of righteousness in the formation of His plans and purposes throughout the generations of humanity.

Because of Rebekah and Jacob’s deception for Jacob to inherit the blessing of Abraham, Jacob was forced to flee for his life. As a result, Isaac sent Jacob to Rebekah’s family in Padan Aram to find a wife from the daughters of Laban, Rebekah’s brother. Isaac then prayed the following blessing over Jacob:²⁵ May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of people’s; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.²⁶

On Jacob’s journey to Padan Aram, he encountered the Lord in a dream. In the dream, he saw a ladder set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven with the angels of God ascending and descending on it. After the dream of the ladder, God renewed with Him the covenant He’d made with Abraham, saying the following: ²⁷

Genesis 28:13-15 I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also, your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.

Jacob then affirms and comes into agreement with the covenant by acknowledging God as his Lord and makes a promise to give Him a tenth of all that comes his way.²⁸

With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we see a clear picture coming forth of how God establishes His sovereign purposes while working with the imperfections of humanity. Amid all the trickery and deception, God is not fazed but continues to move forward in His zeal. Through His patience and understanding of the weaknesses of man, which He created, He keeps His plans on track by communicating and reminding them that He is the God of the universe who will be with them as they are obedient to Him. It’s through His zeal that the Father continually brings forth His prophetic purposes in the earth while making His angels spirits, and His ministers, flames of fire. ²⁹

Once Jacob arrives in Padan Aram, he encounters the trickery of his uncle Laban who keeps him there while working off the payment for his wives. While there, eleven of his children are born. They’re the seeds to the nation of Israel that would eventually enter the Promised Land given to Abraham and his descendants.

After Jacob is released by the Lord to return to his own country, he has another compelling experience